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Mike Marteny's DraftKings daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the Saturday (10/4/25) late slate in Week 6. His CFB DFS lineup picks and DFS sleepers will help you win.
The byes start lessening up after this week, so we should only have one more small late-night slate. It may be small, but this is a very interesting one.
Both games start at the same time, so this is a nice late-night tilt after a full day of college football. We have Fresno hosting Nevada, and Duke heading out west to take on Cal. There's a lot of talent on this smaller slate!
In this article, I will provide you with my daily fantasy college football lineup picks for the late DraftKings slate on 10/4/25, starting at 9 pm Eastern. I’ll give multiple player suggestions for players at quarterback, running back, and wide receiver, aiming to highlight one option at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Quarterbacks
Darian Mensah, Duke ($7.5K)
ACC Passing Touchdown Leaders through Week 5
1. Darian Mensah (Duke)- 13
2. Eli Holstein (Pitt)- 11
3. Chandler Morris (Virginia)- 10
T4. Dylan Lonergan (Boston College)- 9
CJ Bailey (NC State)- 9
Kevin Jennings (SMU)- 9#ItJustMeansLess #GoACC pic.twitter.com/5vcMxT0WW9— Just Means Less ACC (@JML_ACC) October 2, 2025
Not only that, but Mensah has thrown for at least 260 yards in every game. He threw for over 300 yards in each of the first three games. The floor on Mensah is much higher than the rest of the pack, but there are a couple of other quarterbacks who have higher upside.
Chubba Purdy, Nevada ($6.8K)
Purdy never panned out at Florida State and was only used in horrible situations at Nebraska. He has found a home in Nevada after sitting last year behind Brendon Lewis.
Purdy has 276 rushing yards in four games so far with a pair of touchdowns. His passing is still sometimes erratic, but with all three other quarterbacks carrying some sort of risk, I'm opting for the sure points with rushing yards.
Also consider these QBs:
- Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, California ($8K)
- E.J. Warner, Fresno State ($7.2K)
DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Running Backs
Nate Sheppard, Duke ($5.9K)
Nate Sheppard can fly
Syracuse defense sleeping pic.twitter.com/Q05KaB8Hde
— CFBTalkDaily (@CFBTalkDaily) September 27, 2025
Cal's run defense had been very good up until last week, when they allowed over 8 yards per carry to Boston College. Sheppard broke out last week against a broken Syracuse team, running for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Sheppard has also been heavily involved in the passing game. He has 11 receptions in the last three games alone. The RB1 job is his, and Duke may be in a situation again where they want to control the clock and keep the ball out of Sagapolutele's hands.
It feels like Sheppard has wrestled the job away from Anderson Castle. I don't see how Duke could justify going back to Castle full-time after last week.
Rayshon Luke, Fresno State ($5.6K)
It's still a committee running back situation at Fresno, but Luke is significantly cheaper and has been more effective than Bryson Donelson. Luke ran for only 34 yards against Hawaii, but Donelson ran for just one yard on 15 carries.
I think we'll see more of Luke in the Fresno offense. He has 10 receptions over the last two games alone, and he has at least 12 touches in each of the last three. I'll deal with the committee approach as long as Luke keeps producing at a much lower price.
Also consider these RBs
- Kendrick Raphael, California ($6.2K)
- Caleb Ramseur, Nevada ($4.3K)
- Anderson Castle, Duke ($3.7K)
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DraftKings CFB DFS Picks - Wide Receivers
Jacob De Jesus, California ($6.2K)
The only rough game that De Jesus has had is the game in which Sagapolutele struggled. The UNLV transfer is Sagapolutele's favorite target so far. De Jesus leads the team with 28 receptions. He's the possession guy in this offense, but that's not a bad thing on a PPR site like DraftKings.
Cooper Barkate, Duke ($5.8K)
Duke WR Cooper Barkate (you’ve seen me talk about him a lot at Mater Dei in HS) gets 4 targets, 4 receptions, 72 rec yards 2 TDs today. Nice job rook. (from my scouting page) #CFB #PHS #CooperBarkate #Duke #BlueDevils #MaterDei pic.twitter.com/34tQvoYDEx
— 49er_Edits (@49er_edits) September 27, 2025
Barkate has been unreal in his first collegiate action. He has at least 11.7 DK points in every game, topping out last week at Syracuse. He keeps getting better, and Darian Mensah is trusting him more.
There is potential for this game to be high scoring. If that comes to fruition, Barkate could break the slate.
Richie Anderson III, Fresno State ($3.8K)
Both the Fresno and Nevada passing games have been so bad that we have to resort to using the tight ends. They are the only consistent contributors. Anderson only has eight receptions on the season, but he's the guy E.J. Warner looks for in the red zone. He has caught a touchdown in each of the last two games.
Jett Carpenter, Nevada ($3.5K)
The Nevada passing game is almost non-existent. Carpenter has become a popular target of Purdy as a safety valve at TE when he's not looking to run. Carpenter had six receptions in the last game, matching his season total up to that point. His stock is trending upward.
Also consider these WRs:
- Mason Mini, California ($5.5K)
- Trond Grizzell, California ($5.3K)
- Sahmir Hagans, Duke ($4.4K)
DraftKings CFB Stacks
Duke vs. California - game stack
I like both sides of this game, so instead of breaking down each in a separate header, I'll do it all in one. One-stop shopping is the way to go.
Duke has far stackable pieces than Cal does, so we'll start with the Cal side first. It's a little bit tougher. I'm only running JKS in stacks on this slate. He is the highest-priced QB and is too much of a risk to run on his own. He has been great for a freshman, but he has also thrown four interceptions in five games. That's suboptimal.
The Cal receiving duo of De Jesus and Trond Grizzell is a very good one, but you're not getting the full potential if you aren't using Mason Mini with them. The tight end has three of the six receiving touchdowns for Cal and has at least four receptions in every game. A freshman QB's best friend is his tight end.
Whittling down the Duke side to only five pieces is difficult. Mensah should be in all lineups on this slate, and I feel like a Duke four or five-man will be in nearly every lineup. Using a different variation of the Duke five-man will win the slate if this game pops. I also feel like a Duke four, Cal three, and a Fresno RB could win this.
Four Duke receivers average more than 10 DK points per game. Barkate has been the most consistent, so there's no way I'm leaving him out. Hagans has outperformed Que'Sean Brown lately, but Brown still gets more targets. If you're not using both, I would lean towards Brown.
Andrel Anthony is the other, but he has only caught three passes in the last two games. Choose your Duke receivers from the three above.
Running back is where this really gets interesting. Sheppard has taken over as the top back, but Anderson Castle still has at least 10 DK points in three straight games. I like both of them in this situation.
I feel like the uncommon Duke stack will be Mensah with both backs, Barkate, and Hagans or Brown. The rare Duke stack will be bailing on Mensah and running both backs with all three receivers. This will work if JKS and Purdy pop off.
Also consider these other stacks:
- Fresno State
- Nevada (GPP only)
More College Football Analysis
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